The Film TA and His Student
by darkoneliesdarkonetricks
Summary: Killian Jones is a teacher's assistant in the film department and Emma Swan is just another one of his students. So why can't he get her out of his head? / one-shot / just silly, embarrassed Killian fluff


**The Film TA and His Student**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT. Obviously. I do wish I owned a Killian Jones, though. ****_

Killian wasn't exactly sure how it happened. It wasn't like this was his first TA gig in the film department. He'd worked with an intro class twice before. So why was he suddenly very close to breaking his cardinal rule? He could not be falling in love with a student!

He wanted to blame _her_. It was her fault for taking the class as a senior instead of as a freshman. His students generally held next to no temptation after he read the first few papers from the young pups. At this point he had seen all the possible freshman paper responses. He knew how their minds worked and what to expect. But Emma Swan was clearly different. She was intelligent and articulate and her papers made him want to watch the assigned film again just so he could see it through her eyes. She had quite the mind for film and continued to be a complete mystery to Killian.

Most students who did well in the class, producing above average work, quickly tried to buddy-up with him. They wanted to talk film and discuss his course through the program. They wanted his advice and know more about his student work. But not Emma. She came into lab by herself, sat down without speaking to anyone, pulled out her notebook and patiently waited for class to begin. Emma would sometimes grace him with a small smile if he managed to catch her eye, but other than that she was a quiet shadow, slinking in and out of class with little notice.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. Not only was Emma brilliant, but she was beautiful as well and every male in his class knew it. Killian knew it. He was torn between amusement and annoyance at the way some of the lads would watch her. Of course she was oblivious to it all. Which only added to the enigma!

But if Killian was being honest, it was her papers that had him perilously close to falling in love with her. The way she wrote about film and different movie themes often hit close to home. He could tell from reading her work that she viewed the art form in a similar way he did. It impressed him that she felt that way as a non-major. Needless to say, he savored grading her papers. He often caught himself trying to imagine her reading the paper to him. He could almost picture the way her mouth would form the words and her eyes would light up with passion for her theories and ideas and… He had to stop grading her papers at night. It simply wasn't acceptable to be having dreams about his students.

Killian shook his head, trying to clear his mind of his musings and focus on the student chattering animatedly at him about some film they had caught over the weekend. It was three minutes till class started and Killian was trying to calm the turning in his stomach and the flitting of his eyes to the doorway. Emma was due in class any moment.

"…was kind of ridiculous, though. What did you think of that twist at the end?" the dewy-eyed freshman asked him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a streak of blonde and Killian wrenched his eyes back to the student before him.

"Oh, well…it was unexpected, wasn't it?"

The kid stared at him a moment, perhaps waiting for him to elaborate, but when Killian didn't go on he just smiled.

"Yeah. Unexpected."

Killian smiled in return and glanced at his watch. He nodded at the kid and then moved back to the podium, getting ready to address his students. He took a deep breath and then looked up at the full room.

She was there in her usual seat. Left side of the classroom, three rows up, notebook out and ready. They locked eyes and her mouth turned up in that ghost of a smile Killian was getting quite used to. He couldn't stop the answering grin.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm ready to get started. How is everyone? Anything exciting happen over the weekend? Watch anything good?" he asked with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm.

Answers to his questions came trickling in and he was off with the lecture. He only had to remind himself twice not to watch Swan's reactions to the clips he played. He learned the hard way the second week of class when something particularly entertaining happened in a clip and Emma had smiled unrestrainedly at the screen. It took him a particularly long moment to find his train of thought after that.

But his hour and a fifteen minutes was quickly up and he called out reminders as everyone packed up.

"Remember, this week's paper is due next class period. You should have gotten back last week's paper today in class. Please let me know if you have any questions about my grading. Have a good week!"

He savored one last glance of her before he turned to start gathering his own items. Teacher's assistants still had class to get to, too. With a final zip of his bag he turned and almost ran face first into the beautiful Emma Swan. His heart squeezed noticeably as his eyes flitted around quickly, nervously taking in the situation.

The classroom was empty except for them. Emma was standing closer than he'd ever been to her. She smelled absolutely incredible and she was looking at him expectantly with a slight upturn of her mouth. Killian blinked slowly, his mind trying to figure out why she had approached him willingly.

"Oh, ehem…" he cleared his throat subconsciously, cringing slightly at the red he felt spreading across his face. "What can I do for you, Swan?"

She seemed almost surprised for a moment that he knew her name (ha! Like it hadn't been etched in his brain ever since he read her first paper).

"Well it seems you stole my paper, Killian."

He silently thanked every god he could think of that his gasp was silent. She had never said his name before and he was wondering how he ever lived without it.

"Your…paper?" It took a moment for him to process her words.

"Yeah, I turned in last week's assignment, but it didn't come around in the stack of graded work today…?" she trailed off expectantly.

"Your paper from last week?" Killian was still processing.

Emma's eyes lit up with a flicker of amusement.

"Yes. The one on Pinocchio. It says online that you already input the grade." She crossed her arms and eyed him mock-accusingly.

Killian felt his skin warm.

"Oh…"

His mind was racing, trying to remember… He remembered reading her paper and particularly liking some of her sarcastic side comments. It was so funny he had showed it to the professor and they both shared a laugh before he…

His eyes widened in panic. Killian forced a laugh as he set his bag on the nearest desk and tried to maneuver his body into Emma's line of sight.

"I remember reading yours. I must have just…" he started babbling, hoping to mask his embarrassment as he riffled through his own personal notebook. "Just accidentally slipped it in with some of my own work. Let me…" And there it was. Tucked in next to some of his own notes. He pulled it out with only a mildly shaking hand, ears positively burning.

"I, well I wanted to show Professor Larsen some of your comments. You are…" he finally gathered the courage to look up at her and meet her eye. "You are very well spoken in this subject," he finished quietly.

She was silently laughing at him at this point, he could tell, but she was also sporting a light blush of her own. Emma reached up to take the paper from him and their hands brushed, startling Killian so he almost dropped it.

"Oh, well…" Emma trailed off, eyes scanning her graded paper, now securely in her grasp. "Thank you. I honestly don't know what to write most of the time. I feel like sometimes I let you down with my work in these weekly papers."

She finally tore her eyes away from the page to meet Killian's gaping look. He watched the blush spread further down her neck.

"What?"

"Emma, are you serious? You might be new to the vocab, but you have a magnificent handle on the concepts. I've never read anything like your paper on _The Tree of Life_ from an intro student before. You caught some things even I missed. If you weren't a senior I would be seriously trying to persuade you to apply to the film program at this point." Killian could tell he had said too much when she tucked her paper into her folder and took a step back.

"Right, well thanks, Killian. I'll see you next time." She brushed him off and turned towards the door.

"Swan!" he called out reflexively.

It was enough to make her pause and look back at him over his shoulder.

Killian was completely reeling from this interaction with Emma. She was playful and sarcastic, yet smart and direct. Here insecurities with her work blew him away. He briefly realized that he would not be happy until he had figured this girl out, before he pushed that thought away and focus on the conversation at hand.

"I um…I'm being serious." He wasn't entirely sure why she was bolting, but he felt like she doubted his sincerity. "It is a joy to read your work. I…" he had no idea what was making him say this, "I save your papers for last because I know I'm going to need a little longer to rethink the films in terms of your theories. You're brilliant at this."

Killian's heart pounded in his chest as Emma just stood there and looked at him.

"Thank you," she said before turning to go again.

"Emma, wait!" This time Killian was halfway towards the door before she turned back to him with a small smile on her face.

He stared at her face, tracing her freckles, trying to decide if he was going to break his rule once and for all. Why not? He was already halfway in love with her.

"I would like to…I would like to discuss your work with you. Over lunch sometime. If that's okay." The veiled declaration was out before Killian remembered that if she turned him down, there was still eight weeks left in the semester and eight long weeks left of her being his student if he just made things completely awkward between them. His palms broke out in a sweat and he held his breath.

"I think I would like that?" Emma responded with a question, amusement coloring her tone again.

The hilarity of the moment hit Killian and he grinned joyfully.

"Great!" he laughed. "Can I get your number to figure out a good time?"

She chuckled, but took the final steps between them and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Passing it to him she said, "Just to clarify, you are asking me out, right?"

Killian spluttered for a moment before joining in on her laughing.

"Yes, love. Yes, I am asking you out. Your papers have been teasing me all semester and I would like to get to know the lass behind the brilliant words if that's alright with you."

She really smiled at Killian this time as he gave her phone back.

"Yeah, I would like that. Just so long as I am the only student of yours you're getting to know outside of class." She winked at him saucily and finally exited the classroom before Killian could respond.

Yeah…Killian was in love with one of his students. Damn his rules.

 _A/N: Kay. I know I haven't finished the 31 days, but I wanted to get something up for AU week. This is the first CS one shot I've ever posted. So thanks for reading! I hope I get to post some more of my writing._


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